A Kansas Republican official expects John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney to each make visits to the state before Saturday’s GOP caucuses.

“I really think it makes Kansas an enormous tossup state,” said Christian Morgan, executive director for the Kansas GOP. “You have now three candidates for the Republican nomination that are running strong right now.”

But one of McCain’s major supporters in Kansas says a visit is unlikely, although she expects him to win the state caucuses, based on his Super Tuesday success.

“We don’t have that neck-and-neck (race, compared with the Democrats), but it’s very clear that McCain is going to be the nominee,” said Kansas Rep. Pat Colloton, a McCain campaign 3rd Congressional District chairwoman.

She said the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., likely has helped McCain in recent months. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Alan Keyes also are active candidates who will be on Saturday’s ballot. Douglas County and other area Republicans will caucus at South Junior High School, 2734 La.

Participants – who must have been a registered Republican as of Jan. 25 – need to be in line by 10 a.m. Saturday. The doors open at 9:30 a.m. Organizers also suggest voters bring a photo ID. The caucus procedure is a little different from Tuesday night’s Democratic caucuses.

At the GOP event, campaign representatives will give a short speech, and then voters will vote by secret ballot, said Craig Campbell, Douglas County Republican chairman.

Candidates can win three delegates for garnering the most votes per congressional district. If a candidate wins the overall statewide vote, plus two congressional districts, he will also earn 24 at-large delegates.

Douglas County isn’t exactly traditional Republican territory compared to the rest of the state, and Campbell said he expected 400 to 500 local participants. Campbell also said he could see a candidate such as Paul getting backing here because of the college student population.

Statewide, Morgan said that GOP voters expect a turnout comparable to the 36,000 Democrats who participated in Tuesday’s caucuses, and that most GOP sites can handle expected crowds.

But Republican state Sen. Phil Journey, of Haysville, said GOP officials are underestimating the number of people who will show up Saturday. He predicted between 55,000 and 75,000. Morgan said those estimates are too high.